Refrigerated case and platter construction



J. 5. HILL May 21, 1940,- REFRIGERATEDVCASE AND PLATTER CONSTRUCTION IINVENTOR JOSEPH sru/mr FULL w/Il f 0 vfJ 1 Filed June 17, 1938 ATTORNEY Patented May 21,- 1940 REFBIGERATED CASE AND PLATTER CONSTRUCTION Joseph Stuart Hill, Ewing Township, Mercer County, N. .L, assignor to O. V. Hill and Company, Incorporated, Trenton, N. 8., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 17, 1938, Serial No. 214,376

3 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerated display cases having platters therein for supporting articles to be' displayed and particularly to means for producing effective and more nearly uniform 5 circulation of air within display cases and about and between the platters and articles in the case. It has been customary. heretofore to provide refrigerated display cases with removable platters or trays for supporting the articles to be preserved. These platters are variously supported on racks or shelves and adjacent the lower portion of the display chamber. The platters are readily removable from the case to permit articles to be placed on or removed from the platters very easily and in ordinary use they are moved and shifted about frequently. In the course of such movement they are sometimes placed close together and at other times are spaced apart so that the flow of air within the case and about the platters varies considerably.

In those constructions wherein a display case is provided with a storage chamber in the base of the case and below the display chamber it is usual to provide spaced bars or'members for sup- 25 porting the lower platters while permitting the circulation of air therebetween from the upper display chamber to the lower storage chamber. However when the platters are placed close together this circulation of air about and between 30 the plattrsis substantially prevented while other platters, spaced farther apart, allow free circulation of air between the upper and lower chambers of the case and about the articles on display.

This fact gives rise to unequal distribution of 35 the cool air within the case and greatly reduces the efllciency of its operation.

.In order to overcome these objections to construction of the prior art the present invention embodies means for spacing the platters substan- 40 tially uniformly to provide for the circulation of air throughout the case between adjacent platters and into the chamber below the platters.

This may be accomplished in any of various ways but as herein described and as shown in the 45 drawing the platters themselves may be. formed platters and about the articles carried thereby. 65 One of the objects of the invention is to provide refrigerated display cases with novel means for insuring circulation of air throughout the refrigerated space within the case.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refrigerated display case with means for spacing platters by which articles therein are supported so as to insure ready circulation of ainbetween the platters.

A further object of the invention is to provide a display case having upper and lower chambers with means for effecting the circulation of air throughout said chambers and substantially unlformly about articles stored therein. T

These and other objects and features of the ,invention will appear from the following descripindisplay cases of the typeshown diagrammatically in Fig. 1 wherein there is an upper display chamber 2 and a lower storage chamber 4. Cooling coils 6 are located adjacent the upper portion of the display chamber and air circulates downward therefrom throughout the display chamber and into the storage chamber asindicated by the arrows in Fig. 1.

The display chamber is provided with a transparent panel 8 in the front thereof and doors ill in the rear thereof to provide access to the dis- 40 play chamber. An inclined support It extends from the rear to the front of the case below the transparent panels and the doors III for supporting platters M. The storage chamber 4 is pro videdthrough the lower door It to provide ac-' cess thereto and may have a supplemental cooling coil, i8 located therein to aid in cooling the storage chamber. I In that form of my invention shown in Fig. 2 the display case is provided with a rail 20 extending longitudinally of the case along the rear thereof below the doors I u and with a similar rail 22 located below the transparent panel 8, Between these rails extend the support l2 which is shown as formed of spaced rods or slats 24 ai- 5s though any other suitable form of support or grill through which air may flow readily may be employed.

The platters it carried by the support are each formed with longitudinal edges 26 provided with laterally extending projections 28 which are spaced apart and arranged so that those portions of the edges of the platters between the projections 28 are held in spaced relation and provide a channel 30 through which air may circulate readily between the ,display chamber and the storage chamber and about articles carried by the platters.

The number and arrangement of the projections employed may be varied considerably but it is preferred that they be located on opposite edges of the platters and correspondingly positioned on adjacent platters so as to be in engagement when the platters are located upon the support it. With this construction each platter may be removed from the display chamber at will and without difiiculty and upon being returned to the display chamber even though placed. carelessly therein the platters will be prevented from movement into such relation that the extended edges 25 thereof are in engagement with the edges of adjacent platters. The channels 30 between the platters are thus preserved at all times.

In this way adequate circulation of air through-- out the entire interior of the case and between the display chamber and the storage chamber is assured without care or attention on the part of the clerk in removing and returning the platters to the case. Moreover, the platters may be interchanged and moved from one position to another without difiiculty even though they vary in size and shape.

The display chamber is usually provided with a shelf as shown at 32 by which additional platters 34 are carried and these platters also may be formed with projections on the edges thereof so that channels are provided for the flow of air downward'between the platters on the shelf and about articlesthereon. In this way the circulation of air throughout the interior of the case is facilitated and cooling and preservation of all of the articles therein is effected without cooling are carried are formed. with spaced upwardly extending projections 44 which serve to engage and position the platters 46 so as to hold them I in spaced relation whereby the edges 68 of the platters are spaced apart to form channels 50 through which air may circulate readily from one chamber to the other within the display case. When using the construction of Fig. 3 any conventional type of platter may be used and the channels 50 maintained between the edges of the platters by the upwardly extending projections M on the rails fill.

With this form of my invention it is preferable to employ platters of uniform width so that they may be interchanged at will and still engage the projections 54 so as to be held in spaced relation. However when employing either the form of positioning means shown in Fig. 2 or that of Fig. 3 the channels provided and maintained serve to space the adjacent edges of the platters to allow ready flow of air between the platters and about the articles thereon so that the articles are cooled and preserved without the necessity of lowering the temperature of the air in the case .to such an extent that it becomes objectionably dry or causes overcooling of some articles in order to effect the desired cooling of others.

While I have shown two preferred embodiments of my invention in the drawing and have described the same above it will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications may be made in the form and arrangement of the elements employed in the practice of myinvention. Therefore it should be understood that the forms thereof shown and described are intended to be illustrative of my invention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof. 7

I claim:

1. A refrigerated display case having in combination an upper display compartment, a second compartment below said display compartment and communicating therewith, means for cooling air and causing circulation of air within said case, means for supporting articles in position to be cooled by the circulating air, said means including a shelf structure, a set of platters thereon and means for maintaining said platters in spaced apart relation on said shelf structure. f

2. A combination of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein said maintaining means are carried by the platters themselves and positioned to engage like elements on an adjacent platter to hold the edges of the platters in spaced relation.

3. A combination of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein said maintaining means are carried in spaced apart relation on the shelf structure in position to be engaged by the platters and to hold the lateral edges thereof in spaced relation to maintain channels therebetween.

' JOSEPH STUART HILL. 

